My Dinner with Daphne
by Dusk-03
Summary: The Boy-Who-Lived has done many things in his life, but never has he sat through an entire dinner with Miss Daphne Greengrass. Memories of how he got himself in this predicament, all the while trying to make light conversation with the elegant girl.


**My Dinner with Daphne**

Her eyes closed as he could see her enjoying her food, her mouth slowly chewing the melt-in-your-mouth meat, and both her arms elegantly holding the correct pairing of fork and knife. Her wine untouched as she made no effort to start any conversation but continued to enjoy her meal - something which he was having trouble with.

It was not the first time he had been on a date, in fact he had many before but none at such a fancy and he reminded himself, overly pricy restaurant - he had allowed her to pick the place, a gesture of good will between the two. Of course the other girls he had dated were beautiful - his thoughts turned to Cho and Ginny, making him feel guilty as to think of other girls when he should be solely concentrating on her. He had thought every girl he had been with as beautiful but none of them had her kind of beauty - the kind that stop other men in their tracks, as she was beautiful and elegant.

When he had first offer her his hand to enter the place, she had merely glided beside him. Whereas the other girls seemed human, she seemed like a goddess. Harry had been taken back by her beauty and cursed himself for not noticing it back when they were in Hogwarts. His year away hunting for soul fragments of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had force him to concentrate on staying alive and not at the development of girls his age who were taking their seventh year at the school. It dawned on him as to why he had never noticed her and barely ever spoke to each other. Of curse there was the whole Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry that made her unappealing in his immature mind - but now that school was over with, he cursed himself for ignoring this beauty that was right under his nose.

Again he watched her - it was all he could do, he was awestruck by her beauty. And again she repeated her motions, elegantly cutting her expensive piece of meat, using the proper fork - which Harry himself had thought was the salad fork until she had made a grunting noise to indicate it wasn't - and slowly rising a small piece onto her glossy pink lips and not before plopping it into her mouth. He face was emotionless as it was framed by her wavy chestnut hair. It reminded him of Hermione but Hermione was never this elegant and her hair was more frizzle because it was natural to her, the girl sitting beside him had hours upon hours of work done on it no doubt.

He knew she was high maintenance - girls coming from old families such as her's always are. Yet in his mind, there was not a price he would not pay to have such a beauty by his side. Call him vain or superficial, but he quite enjoyed having his heart beat twice as fast every time he glanced at her.

She was different from the other girls he knew - maybe it had something to do with her family's position on blood purity, after all it was publicly known that the Greengrass' supported Voldemort even though nothing was proven in court. Although high maintenance, she was not like the other girls he knew; it was apparent from her green dress, one which reminded him coming straight out of an Edwardian movie, that she was not a girl who was into the latest muggle fashions - unlike Lavender, before her untimely death and secretly Hermione - nor was she a girl who seem to be the clingy type - he instantly remembered the numerous times Pansy had marched into the Great Hall and would not stop going on about what Draco had recently bought her.

So the question one may ask and the answer Harry did not even know - why was Harry Potter, saviour to the wizarding world, sitting with his mouth open in front of his elegant fiancé, on their first ever date?

It was a long story of course, but not as cruel as his life story thus far - in someways it would have been the best thing to have happened to him since he was born. Then again, being written into a contract before you had turned one could have turned out a lot worse.

Written by a grandfather he never known and approved by his father and mother - who he had thought would never be part of such schemes as they themselves had married out of love. It had been a long ways since he first learned of the contract and he was sure he was still not over the shock of it all. Harry Potter remembered a lot of things about his life but nothing was clearer than the days and weeks leading up to the this point - his other memories would require a pensieve to see all the details clearly, but not this memory, he was fully conscious of every last detail.

It had been weeks after the Battle of Hogwarts - the name the Daily Prophet had decided to use after Harry and Tom had their little sparring match - and he could remember vividly receiving a letter from Gringotts asking for his presence as they had recently uncovered lost documents in the Potter vault when they were cleaning up - they had fail to mention it was him who had caused the mess in the first place but Harry would have liked to believe all was forgiven after he had saved them all from Voldemort. The goblins had found documents stored deep within the Potter family vault, one signed by a Mr. Charlus Potter and a Mrs. Dorea Black detailing the future bond between Harry Potter, himself, and of Miss Daphne Greengrass, the girl sitting before him. He had later found out the signatures were by his grandparents, signed before they had died - he was told they had died shortly after he was born.

The details of the contract was clear, only under premature death would the two, Harry Potter and Daphne Greengrass, be released from it's obligations. It was simple - they were to marry. Written on the eve of his grandparent's deathbed and just in time as Daphne was born, it was the final wish that his own father who had to promise, that Charlus Potter's grandson had to marry a respectable lady from a prominent family. Of course that was before his grandfather would have known the wizarding world would take such a drastic and fanatic turn for the worst.

He was mad a first, the contract ruined any chance he had with Ginny. Not that it had mattered in the end, his anger had soon funnelled towards her anyways and once they could not stand being in the same room without one blowing up on the other, it was clear he had no other options. Then the second phase had started - he did not know how to become a young man of respectable standings.

He knew the Greengrass were an old family, after all they had support Voldemort's cry for blood purity - even though Astoria had later told him it was obligatory for all old families to support blood purity, it did not mean they had supported the other issues brought on by Voldemort. Harry was never one for politics and had decided it was better to let go of the past, after all it would do him no good to hang on to old grudges. And as he had spent more time with the family - mainly Astoria because she was not shy around him like her sister - he learned they were just normal people, like himself.

He remember the day he finally accepted the consequences of contract - it was only a day after Ginny ran back to the Burrow, not after leaving her mark on him; his cheek still stung to this day. At that point he had been living in 12 Grimmauld Place and with the help of Sirius and Phineas Nigellus - as much as portraits could help a boy trying to court his first girl, they set to work. It had been a bad idea. Sirius having never married only offered blunt jokes about the opposite sex and Phineas Nigellus had only knowledge of how respectable young man should act from the 1800's - although he was a greater help than Sirius.

He had asked Ron and Hermione; Ron because he had expected him to have some knowledge of how young man from old families would act and Hermione because of her grand indexing of many books. That did not work either, Ron because he had no interest in wearing monkey suits and Hermione because she was against the principle of contract marriages.

He became desperate and in his time of need, Sirius had given him his only solution. Ask the only remaining family member he had who was still accustomed to such nobility, Aunt Narcissa.

He had arrived at the front gates of Malfoy Manor with a stumble, still unaccustomed to apparition and with his hands, opened the gates allowing him to step onto the long driveway. He had visited the manor on many other occasions before - usually to drop off any Black family artifacts he had come across will digging deep into 12 Grimmauld Place, knowing well that he had no such use for them and Narcissa may. He made his way forward slowly, the high hedge curved beside him and it muffled any sound of his footsteps. He felt as if he was being watch and not before a white flash streaked in front of him - causing him to stop and catch his breath, reminding himself the many white peacocks that lived within the hedge.

He knocked on the door and was soon met with the sound of a great many locks and latches unwinding themselves. The great oak door soon opened and Harry was met with the aging face of Narcissa Malfoy, her large blue eyes focused on him and her expression changed to one of confusion. Harry's nose was soon hit with the smell of Treacle tarts, broomsticks, and lastly an earthy smell which reminded him of his Aunt Petunia's garden - and he realized she was wearing the new perfume that was currently sweeping the Wizarding World, a new perfume based on Amortentia. It was the same smell he was currently enjoying as he sat across from Daphne - of Treacle tarts that reminded him of his adopted family, of broomsticks for his love of Quidditch, and of Aunt Petunia, his last remaining link to his mother.

_"What are you doing here Potter, not more heirlooms I hope?"_ He remember Narcissa greeting him in her usual cold voice.

He was led to the Drawing Room - a large room of wooden walls, on one side a great many portraits hung and on the other a handsome marble mantelpiece and in the middle of the room, a large ornate table sat, empty. Harry then had spent the next hour explaining the predicament he had been placed in and unwilling asked Narcissa for her help.

Aunt Narcissa merely laughed and Harry had thought it to be from the ironic circumstance that this marriage contract had put him under - after all, he had fought a war to stop such supremest traditions. It took a while for Narcissa to calm down but to Harry's relief, she had agreed to coach him in the finer details of being a man of respectable standings. That is, until she said the words he had feared most.

_"You and Draco are of similar age and it would be easier if he were the one to teach you."_ And that was the last thing Harry Potter had remembered of that day, as he found himself the next morning, sitting at the large table of Malfoy Manor's Drawing Room and under the scowl of Draco Malfoy.

_"Wrong spoon Potter!" _

_"I swear a monkey would have a better memory than you."_

_"No pure blood girl is going enjoy your company if you do not speak up Potter!"_

If it were not for the fact that Harry knew Malfoy wanted to be there as much as himself, he would have thought Malfoy was enjoying channelling his inner Snape. It took a week and Harry was no better at the finer points of acting like a boy who had all the riches in the world and Malfoy refused to teach him any longer for the lack of any progression. Narcissa, having been forced to take over for her son, had been even more strict. And after another week of little sleep and content reminders of his lack of manners, Narcissa finally declared he was ready.

As he sat across from his future wife, he promptly forgot everything that Narcissa had thought him. His first mistake was using his entree fork for his salad and his second was using a butter knife to cut his steak. The night could have not been gone any worse for Harry Potter but he was reminded of Draco's last comment and realized they had not said a word to each other.

He opened his moth to speak but was stopped as he again could not stop as Daphne's pink lips. He knew he was physically attracted to her - he knew it from the moment he laid his eyes on her for the first time since Hogwarts. It was a week after his training with Narcissa and he had finally found the courage to write to the Greengrass patriarch - at first Harry received a replied stating that Mr. Greengrass was not amused at such a prank played by the Head of the Black Family but soon received a second letter stating that Mr. Greengrass had indeed dug deeper into his family's Gringotts vault and found his end of the contract. A meeting between Harry and Mr. Greengrass was arranged and Harry was to spend the weekend at the family's manor.

He could only wish to have seen Daphne's reaction once her father had told her of such a contract. Although he had only spoken to the girl when it required of him for class purposes, he had no memories of what she was like during their time at Hogwarts. He had heard rumours of course, that Daphne was part of Pansy's little gang and the odd rumour that it was Daphne who was secretly in control of said gang - he had heard more than one rumour about a girl named "Queenie", the self imposed title students at Hogwarts gave to the girl who had the most influence. It was enough for Harry to prejudge the girl - that is until he finally met her on that fateful day.

He was sent instruction by Mr. Greengrass to be present at the front of the Potting Shed Cafe of Pot House Hamlet on the outskirts of Barnsley. Having done some research - he had finally gotten Kreacher with the help of Mr. Weasley to connect 12 Grimmauld Place with muggle phone networks and thus the marvellous new fad of the internet was available to him - he had found the Pot House Hamlet to be a muggle tourist trap. He had become conflicted with what to wear that day, he would seem out of place with a formal robe at a muggle cafe and he did not want to seem cheap if he were to wear his muggle clothing to such a important meeting with such an prominent family. In the end he had to dress in his muggle cloths as he did not want to cause anymore trouble with the Ministry of Magic.

So he waited by the front doors of the Potting Shed Cafe that morning, as streams of patrons went in and out of the cafe without so much as a glance at poor Harry Potter - although he felt as though he was out of place for just standing there. He wait for ten minutes although it felt as though it had been hours, before a great big car, black and with it's recognizable "Spirit of Ecstasy" stopping in front of where he stood. The driver soon got out and Harry found him to be an old man, probably nearing his seventies and wearing a very expensive suit.

_"It is good to finally meet you Mr. Potter, you do not know how long I have wished to shake your hands."_ The man had turned out to be Tom, the Greengrass family's squib driver and chauffeur.

He soon found himself in the expensive car and once the driver had been seated, they were on their way. The car passed through empty country roads, forest covered the majority of their journey but he did see one or two large houses as the car drove past - he could have swore each house must have belonged to a wizarding family as they just did not feel normal to Harry. He made small talk with Tom the diver, trying to gain insight on the family he was about to marry into.

_"Mr. Greengrass is eagerly awaiting to meet you Mr. Potter." _ and _"Miss Daphne was not pleased to find out about such a contract but Miss Astoria could not be any more high spirited about your future union. She has been writing letters to all her Hogwarts friends about your marriage with Miss Daphne." _were just some of the things their light conversation turned to.

They soon arrived at the front gates of the Greengrass manor, as the trees began to give way to, well Harry could only describe it as green grass. High iron fence surrounded the property of the manor - it must have been three times the size of Malfoy's as he could still not catch any sight of the Manor at the entrance of the driveway. It took another two minutes before he sighted the manor house. It was large, as large as Malfoy Manor but where as Malfoy Manor was perpetually under a rain cloud, Greengrass Manor felt as though Harry were not in England but the rolling hills of France.

The Greengrass manor too had a long drive way, long because of the sheer size of the property - it made Harry wonder how such girl who had this kind of wealth stayed hidden at Hogwarts for so long - maybe, just maybe, the rumours were true and Daphine Greengrass really was this 'Queenie' character. As the car rolled down the long driveway, Harry half expected to see a white peacock run by, as he had come to expect all wealthy families to own such a thing - which would explain why Kreacher had kept insisting they should get a pair for the modest backyard of number 12 Grimmauld Place. No such luck however and soon Harry found himself in front of the large oak door which ultimately was connected to the Greengrass' entrance hall.

Tom, the squib driver and chauffeur had driven off to who knows where the Greengrass kept their car, leaving poor Harry Potter alone at the door. A great big black iron door-knocker only centimetres from his bright green eyes. Harry was contemplating whether to knock or appariate home and stay hidden for the rest of his life under the protection of his blankets. He chose the first option and was met with a great creaking of the door seconds after using the door-knocker.

Harry was met with a man - a man who had no distinctive features. If Harry were to explain how the man looked like from memory, then he would say the man was not tall like the Malfoys, nor small and plump like Mrs. Weasley, nor hair lion like as with Rufus Scrimgeour. No, the man was plain. He did however wear a suit and Harry from his years of muggle life knew what a suit could only mean - this person was of importance.

"Ah, Mister Harry Potter, what a pleasure to have finally met you in person. Basil Greengrass." Harry could remember Daphne's father raising a hand and he took it without second thought, and shook it.

He was taken to the Greengrass formal Sitting Room - although having past so many other rooms, Harry could on guess there was an informal Sitting Room and maybe even the family's Sitting Room but having lived in the Dursley's 3 bedroom house at Number 4 Privet Drive all his life, he had no idea what normal wealthy house would look like - and by no means did he consider the Malfoy's to be normal.

From the moment he stepped into the room he could see three female figures, with their backs turn to him and seated perfectly on their expensive couch - Italian made Harry later learned. Each of them with chestnut hair and each of them shorter than the next - although Daphne who he could only guess was seated in the middle was nearly her mother's height and Astoria nearly Daphne's.

"Everyone, I would like you to meet Mr. Harry Potter, our future son-in-law." It had gotten their attention and the three girls came to face him. His eyes first fell to Mrs. Greengrass, who looked elegant and then to Astoria Greengrass, an air of smugness and playfulness as her smile turned into a cat like grin. And finally, his eyes fell on Daphne, his Daphne. She may had looked like the other two women in the room but in his mind she was the only one who was perfect.

He of course became embarrassed once he was seated, at the opposite couch, all three pairs of eyes glued on him and a fourth pair, belonging to Mr. Greengrass joined them. The next hour had become the longest in Harry Potter's life, as the Greengrass family asked him all sorts of questions - from his childhood to what his plans for the future was. All the while, Daphne had not spoken a peak and merely took long sips of her tea - Harry was glad for this as he did not know if his mouth would work if Daphne had spoken to him face to face.

It was not until the clock chimed five o'clock that the two elder Greengrass excused themselves to check up on the night's dinner, leaving Harry alone in the presence of two Slytherine beauties.

With her parents gone, Astoria became a kid in a candy store. She bounced where she sat and asked questions after questions about his misdeeds in Hogwarts. She had wanted to know everything, from how he became the youngest Seeker in a century to how he was able to get back into Hogwarts the night of the battle. Harry was glad that Astoria was asking these questions, as he felt comfortable around her and if she was not present, he feared he would become very boring in front of his future wife.

Dinner could have not come soon enough or dinner came much too soon, which ever way it was, Harry was a defeated man by the end of it. Not because he did not know which silverware to use and when - he had actually been prefect that night as Narcissa's constant drilling was fresh in his mind - but by the end of the night, he had not spoken a single word to the lovely Daphne Greengrass.

After subduedly hinting that she wanted grandchildren as soon as possible, Mrs. Greengrass, who's name Harry learned to be Daisy - it had seemed that the family tradition of flower names had come from her side of the family - had asked Harry if he wished to stay the night. Not wanting to impose, Harry declined, although not after more attempts by Mrs. Greengrass - it had seemed she really did want grandchildren. Of course, Harry was using all his willpower to decline the offers as the beautiful girl in front of him was very tempting.

He had finally managed to say good bye to the family but not before Harry and Mr. Greengrass agreed to an official courtship of Daphne - even though their union had been already settled upon, the old ways still required Harry to court Daphne. And thus, it had ultimately resulted in tonight, a romantic dinner with just the two of them.

"Potter." Harry was awoken from his memories by an firm voice - it had been the first time he had heard her voice, elegant and firm, somehow he was reminded of Professor McGonagall. "I do not want our first conversation to be a result of screaming your name in bed."

And that was when Harry Potter knew he was smitten with Mrs. Daphne Potter nee Greengrass.

* * *

><p><strong>Notes<strong>:  
>My first Harry Potter fanfic, this idea has been in my head for some time but I've never had enough free time to write it down. Also, please do not ask for me to continue this fic, as I have said, I don't have anytime especially with writing my other fics. If anyone likes this idea, you are free to take it and expend it. Like I say with all my other fics, I consider myself to be a subpar writer and would love to have a ghost writer for all my ideas, that's why anyone can take this and make it their own.<p>

Please only review if your ego is in check, if you just want to show off your HP knowledge, I'm sure you can apply for a quiz show somewhere but not in reviews. I've had enough people with small brains and big ego reviewing my other fics to last me a life time.

I've always loved HP/DG pairing and would love to see more fanfics as a result of that. But there are way too much of them that make Harry into some all powerful wizard and/or have way too much bashing? Why can't we all live in an imaginary world were no one hates each other? The premise of this story is that, as you have read, Charlus Potter is indeed Harry Potter's grandfather (yes I know it's not confirmed canon) and I tried to keep the flower name theme with Daphne and Astoria's parents. Most of the information and research I did for this fic was based off of the wiki - it is truly a wealth of information.

I've always seen Daphne as the quiet noble girl with chestnut hair and Tracy Davis as the fun blonde; and Astoria being greatly influenced by Tracy - that's why I gave Astoria a cat like grin.

Update: Originally I made Daphne and the rest of the Greengrass family blonde because for some reason I had thought Astoria was blonde in the movie. I've gone back and changed it to chestnut.


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